Sunday, November 05, 2006

Some facts about living in Buenos Aires and dont beleive the hype that is is a cheap city to live in,

The biggest myth I hear in the blogger world is that Buenos Aires is a cheap city to live long term for foreigners.

If you go by basic living expenses there are very little bargains here.

For example by far your biggest expense will be rent in Buenos aires and if you come here thinking that you will find a apartment for around 300 dollars a month you will be very disapointed.

You will be very lucky to find an apartment for under 600 dollars a month in any decent area and share accomodation is nearly impossible to find.

And as for buying properties in Buenos Aires prices are now around 2000 to 2500 a square metre in most of the northern areas from recoleta to belgrano.

Argentines like to blame foreigners for putting up the prices of properties but according to the real estate institute of argentina over 85 percent of all real estate purchases in argentina are by argentine nationals.

There seems to be a negative impression blaming foreigners for all argentine woes when the fault very clearly lies in argentine society itself which has always favoured the higher classes.

The economic boom of the last 5 years has very clearly benefited them and the wealthy of argentina are richer than ever before and the economic crash of 5 years ago made many of them 3 times wealthier overnight.

With their great buying power they brought up as much cheap real estate they could lay their hands on and now they are laughing all the way to the bank.

I find it strange when argentine people tell me I am here because its cheap . Nothing could be further from the truth I am hear for many reasons monetary reasons do not have any impact on me .

To live long term as a foreigner be prepared for a lot of sacrifices . If you do not have decent capital to start your own business you will find the going very tough here . If you are a foreign traveller to argentina I suggest that you do visit as its the most incredibly beautiful country but be aware that your trip will be much more expensive than you probably planned on.

Good hotels are nearly as dear as european prices . Internal air travel is much much dearer than europe . Restaurants are cheaper in the main but certainly they are not the bargain that you might beleive.

Buenos aires is certainly worth a visit and you will be enchanted just be prepared to have enough money in store for your trip

6 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Richer, not "more richer"!u$s 2,000 - 3,000 per square meter for the best neighbourhoods. You can still find a lot cheaper if you are willing to go to less elite areas. Even so, 2-3 thousand us dollars is very low by international standards.True, everything is not cheap here. Inflation is taking its toll. Rents, for foreigners, are based in dollars and run $600 usd or more per month. Is that a lot by UK/US standards? On the whole, the cost of living for western expats is very low here. I know of no better bargain.

I hazard a guess that most expats would only choose to live in Buenos Aires and 90 percent in Recoleta Barrio Norte and Palermo or the Northern Suburbs. Yes Buenos Aires was cheap 4 years ago but the cost of living for an expatriate has gone up around 40 to 50 percent since then in dollars.

There are many cheaper cities in the World maybe not in Europe but certainly in South america. Montevideo is a great city and you can buy excellent property in a very good area for half the price of Buenos Aires

Surely one person's unawareness of cheaper places does not, therefore, make BA the cheapest.

I have personally lived in a couple of very reasonable cities (cheaper than BA) with sophisticated cultures where people have much finer manners. However, life/fate has brought me here so I make peace with it and live a fulfilling life nonetheless.

Many expats love this city and that is more than a good enough reason to stay which is something beyond the comprehension of someone who seems to be completely obessed with the dollar.

The argentines are also harping on about their great european city and all that crap and they continue to leave dog shit on the ground throw litter out everywhere and drive like maniacs with no concern for others .

Its not cheap at all for the bad quality of their products and certainly fully agree about the rudeness of the portenos . Very false with their kisses and hugs concealed with a knife in the back

hi everyone expensive/cheap are relative terms yes i would think that buenos aires is expensive to live in given the salaries that most jobs pay in argentina yes there are quite a few places in south america where one could live cheaper, but, they are not, large, relatively safe, comopolitan urban centers such as buenos aires

b.a. is cheap compared to life in european, american, asian, russian and australian cities

you mention buying an apt at 2000-3000 a sq meter you must mean pesos because you can easily get an apt in recoleta for 1000 us dollars a sq meter and much less in the surrounding boroughs

and rent 600 dollars (usa) in b.a. is cheap in florida in almost any city, a decent, two bedroom apt rents for 1500-2000 dollars a month 2 bedroom florida apts are averaging 500,000 to 750,000 in nyc, a two bedroom rents for around 4,000 a month or more plus the monthly carrying charges are significantly more usually close to a 1000 a month

so as far as i can see, yes the cost of living in b.a. is rising too fast, and faster than the pay in argentina but, in a world scale of big cities with life! b.a. is less expensive than most by a long shot even my vodka is only 2.80 cents a bottle smile diego

b.a. has a life! you can buy a lot of space in el valle de luna cheap! if you want space

Hey, you are righ, it is a cheap city compared to other ones in South America. Last year I went to Argentina and took some Tango classes. I found an apartment rental buenos aires that was great and really affordable. I was near the downtown so I spent all days watching tango shows, it is a fantastic dance.I would like to keep practising it.Mark